Bloodrush (Scarlet Star Trilogy #1)

Chapter 36 - Whatever It Takes

'America, we are headed for America.'

7th June, 1867

The rain stopped as dawn broke. There was no sun, no glowing firebrand in the east, just a gradual lightening of the sky, bruised as it was by the thick and angry clouds. The storm must have feared the sun, for it was soon moving on, skittering away to pastures new and dry, breaking up in its hasty retreat. The dawn light sliced through the storm's scattered limbs and threw strange shadows on the ground. Several thick columns of black, ominous smoke dared to spear the morning sky, leaking from the town to the north.

Lurker took a sip of his water, sniffed, and flicked Lilain on the arm.

'What?' she whispered dazedly, as though she had been half asleep.

'Shall we wake him?' Lurker asked.

Lilain shook her head. 'He'll come when he's ready. He needs every scrap of sleep he can get, after last night.'

Lurker sniffed again. 'What did he do?'

'Slew a nest of vipers is what he did. Pretty much with his bare hands. The boy is ...' Lilain paused to yawn and scratch her head. 'I don't know what he is.'

Lurker grunted. 'Hmph. Better than his father?'

Lilain's eyes widened as she slowly nodded. 'If he isn't now, then he will be.'

Lurker sniffed once more, and looked up at the sky. 'Going to be a hot day.'

'Yes it is.'

'You heard the guns, right?'

Lilain took a sip of her water, wincing as she lifted her bloodied arm. She had no idea how she was still even conscious, but she wasn't about to question it. 'Ever since the thunder stopped, a few hours ago.' She turned to look him in the eye. 'I know the sound of guns when I hear 'em.'

It was Lurker's turn to nod, and he did so whilst Lilain looked him over. His rippled, shaven scalp still glistened with raindrops, making the ridges of his scars even more pronounced. She watched him sniff, his nose twitching to one side as it always did. She marvelled at how hunched his shoulders were, and yet how somehow it still felt like a giant sat beside her.

Lilain reached out, wincing again, and patted his gloved hand. 'Thank you.'

'Thank Rhin. He's the one who broke me out. Though, it doesn't look like I was needed.'

'Yes you were. Hell of a shot, by the way.'

'Ma'am,' Lurker said, reaching up to tug at a non-existent hat. He frowned and shrugged.

'I can't believe it's all over,' Lilain sighed.

'What?'

'This,' she said, looking around. 'Fell Falls. The Serpeds. My house.'

'What happened to the house?'

'Castor's men burnt it down. Everything's gone.'

Lurker cast a glance at the burnt-out riverboat, lying awkwardly in the grey, oily water. 'Seems to be a lot of that goin' round,' he replied, scratching his nose. 'What'll you do?'

'Move on. Back east, maybe. Or north. And there's always him to consider,' Lilain sighed again, nodding to her nephew, still curled like a foetus in the mud, thirty paces or so away. 'I can't imagine what he's got in his mind right now, after what he heard uttered last night.' Lilain turned her gaze on the small black figure who was also curled up in the mud, over to the left, head resting on a stone. She wasn't surprised to see Rhin's eyes open. They had been like that most of the night. If she hadn't known better, she'd have thought him dead, slain by guilt.